WWI Trench songs

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Pete M
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 02:45 PM

just from memory, a couple not mentioned so far "The Bells of Hell Go Ting-A-Ling-A-Ling", "I Don't Want to Join the Army" (which caused indignant letters to the Times when a 'gentleman' heard troops singing it on the march. Also if you search the forum for Christmas in the Trenches, there are I think at least a couple of threads about these incidents and the songs of the era.

Pete M

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Jeri
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 01:56 PM

Spud, I grew up hearing my father sing Mademoiselle from Armentières, and thought for years it went:
Daddy's part:
Mademoiselle from Armentières, parlez vous,
Mademoiselle from Armentières, parlez vous,
Mademoiselle from Armentières...
Mommy's part, spoken:
That's enough!!
Daddy again:
Hinky, dinky, parlez vous.

This song seems to have managed to escape the DT so far. Too bad I don't know more of the lyrics.

I learned There's a Long, Long Trail from my dad as well, but only the chorus. The first time I had a chance to hear the whole song was when I bought "A Present From the Gentlemen" by John Roberts and Tony Barrand. It was amazing to me to be able to take my memory of that song out of storage and actually add to it.

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Anglo
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 01:34 PM

No-one seems to have mentioned When this Bloody War Is Over. I agree the soundtrack to Oh, What a Lovely War would be the place to start. Catalogue all that, and go from there...

And as Mr Red notes above, Roy Palmer's book "What a Lovely War" has a lot of stuff, but it suffers greatly from not having any music.

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Bert
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 01:15 PM

"The Laddies Who Fought and Won" and many others by Harry Lauder.

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Mr Red
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 01:08 PM

The Old Barbed Wire.

Roy Palmer's book "What a Lovely War" has several versions one he refers to the reverse order and refers to an American version.

One that I told Roy about was too late for the book. Robert Graves the War poet was filmed singing snippets of it - what he actually sang (give or take what memory does) I videoed the program.

"Do you want to find the Brigadier" is how it starts. A few verses then the last verse. "Do you want to find your sweetheart...". He wasn't gay but there is a question is hovering there is there not?

I will dig out my transcription and post here from home.

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 12:56 PM

Bugsy:

Keep the Home-Fires Burning. I was going to mention There's a Long, Long Trail but I've been beaten to the punch. Good luck and let me know how it goes. I'm hunting a publisher for a similar book on U.S. Civil War songs. Kindest regards, Neil

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Snuffy
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 09:11 AM

Bugsy, we used to sing Three German Officers, but we used the tune of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", not "Mademoiselle from Armentières"

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: AndyG
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 08:25 AM

If you can find it get a copy of
The Long Trail
by John Brophy & Eric Partridge.

Also search the forum for Brophy as I've occasionaly posted quotes from this book on various WWI threads. (I can't get a response from the search today or I'd post you a link.)
For what it's worth my WWI songs are here, here & here. Mainly gathered from Oh What a Lovely War and The Long Trail.

AndyG

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Bugsy
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 03:57 AM

CRANKY YANKEE, That's a different "Christmas in the Trenches" to John McCutcheon's. Do you Know the words to the poem?

CHeer

Bugsy

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: CRANKY YANKEE
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 02:57 AM

The first marine he ate some beans, Parley voo
The second marine he ate some beans, parley-voo
The third marine, he ate some beans and SH.. all over the submarine.
hinky dinky parley voo

Here's an original parody (Paris must be pronounced as we do in English, with a hard "S" at the end)

How you gonna keep them down on the farm,
After they've seen PARIS?
Paris is spelled P-A-R-I-S,
Paree is spelled P-A-R-E-E-, I guess
How you gonna teach your kids how to spell,
AFTER THEY'VE DONE IT IN FRENCH?

The last verse to, "I know where they are" is

If you want to find the infantry, I know where they are,
I know where they are, I know where they are.
If you want to find the Infantry, I know where they are,
HANGING FROM THE OLD BARBED WIRE.
I saw them, I saw them,
Hanging from the old barbed wire,
I saw them, hanging from the old barbed wire.

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: CRANKY YANKEE
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 02:29 AM

"Christmas in the Trenches" is a parody of "Christmas [Day] in the Workhouse" (or vice versa) (Vice Versa, that's the assistant poet)

Christmas in the workhouse is recited as a poem, usually.

(with heavy london accent, if you can. ) (there I go getting snotty again)

I started to write it in dialect, but I've given up

CHRISTMAS IN THE WORKHOUSE

It were Christmas in the workhouse, the best time of the year.
All them paupers, they were happy, they were full of Christmas cheer.
And, the Master too was happy, as he strode down dismal Halls.
And, he wished them "Merry Christmas", and all them paupers answered, "Balls".
Which made the master angry and he swore by all the Gods,
""YOU'LL GET NO CHRISTMAS PUDDIN' YOU LOUSY LOT OF SODS"
Then up stepped a war scarred veteran who'd stormed the Khyber Pass,
"You can take your Christmas puddin', Mate, and shove it up your .............

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Musicman
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 01:10 AM

don't forget... K-K-K-Katy.....

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Bugsy
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 12:55 AM

Doug, Tell me more.

Cheers

Bugsy

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: DougR
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 12:45 AM

"My Buddy."

DougR

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Bugsy
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 12:23 AM

Yes Bob, I know Suvla Bay, it was a favourite song of my Father in Law's.

Cheers

Bugsy

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 12:17 AM

G'day Bugsy,

From the Australian perspective there is Suvla Bay, a song in which a girl (in "an old Australian homestead, with roses round the door") learns of her sweetheart's death at Gallipoli and becomes a nurse - rejecting any other offers of love.

This is alleged (by Bill Scott, at least) to have been banned by the Australian authorities as "detrimental to morale". I can't pick it up in the DigiTrad - or in SuperSearch - so it's not there. I had thought that i might have posted it in another thread, so I will check my complaints about songs not yet harvested. If I can't give you a link, I will post it (next week ... after the Illawarra Folk festival.

The Australians also had Dinky-Di, a song reviling Army staff who polished seats while diggers fought in the trenches, to the tune of Villikins and His Dinah. This is in DigiTrad ... under the spelling Dinky Die. I seem to remember a few more Australian ones listed in the Allens publication World War Songs (mostly from sheet music published during the two World Wars) but they were less well known. I will check when I get home.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Bugsy
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 12:09 AM

Spud,I remember singing a version as a kid with my mates, "Three German officers crossed the line Parlez vous Shagged the girls and drank the wine...."and so on and so forth.

I wonder it the words are of the same ilk.

Thanks Sarah and Amos, I have them all in mind.

Meadow muskrat, I don't know "The Valley of the Shadow" but have already got John McCutcheon's Christmas in the Trenches on my list of later songs.

CHeers

Bugsy

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: GUEST,Sarah2 (at work)
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 12:05 AM

I think that dum-de-dum line, at least the cleaned up version, was "Hasn't been kissed in forty years." The original left to your imagination.

Sarah

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Spud Murphy
Date: 15 Mar 01 - 12:02 AM

Oh,cripes, you had to ask.... here's the best I can do. i know the lyrics were so raunchy my mom wouldn't let my dad sing it around the house. I know somebody else can help with the lyrics when this thread get's going. I'll bet Spaw knows a few of the dum-de dum parts

Madamoiselle from Armintiers, parlez vous,
Madamoiselle from Armintiers, parlez vous,
madamoiselle from Armintiers,
dum-de-dum didy-dum-de-dum,
Hinky, dinky, parlez vous.

When I get my teeth in in a little bit I'll whistle it for you.

Spud

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: GUEST,MEADOW MUSKRAT
Date: 14 Mar 01 - 11:47 PM

Barrand and Roberts, two expatriate Brits living in the US recorded a great war Trilogy on their album A PRESENT FROM THE GENTLEMEN.The afore-mentioned The Old Barbed Wire is sandwiched between The Valley of the Shadow, a more recent song about the Battle of Arras, and There's a Long, Long Trail, a marching song composed in 1913 by Zo Elliot and Stoddard King.I also vaguely remember hearing a song called Roses of No Man's Land, about Red Cross Nurses. For a modern song about a unique event during ww1 check out Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon.

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Amos
Date: 14 Mar 01 - 11:43 PM

They're all English. And then there's the whole sound trrack to "O! What a Lovely War!".

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: GUEST,Sarah2 (at work, no cookie)
Date: 14 Mar 01 - 11:38 PM

It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary
(Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and) Smile, Smile, Smile!
Roses of Picardy
Land of Hope and Glory
Keep the Home-Fires Burning
There's a Long, Long Trail

No promise they're all English-written, will have to get home to do some more looking. Meanwhile, others at their reference sources might look these up...?

Sarah

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Bugsy
Date: 14 Mar 01 - 10:54 PM

Good one Spud! Do you have any lyrics or background on the song?

Cheers

Bugsy

Subject: RE: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Spud Murphy
Date: 14 Mar 01 - 10:51 PM

Mademoiselle from Armentières

Ha-ha. i'm first!!!

Pomme de terre.

Subject: Trench Songs of WW1
From: Bugsy
Date: 14 Mar 01 - 10:39 PM

I'm startin a bit of a collection of Trench Songs of WW1 (from the British perspective) and would be grateful of any songs, along with background that you may know. I've started of with "(Hanging on) The Old Barbed Wire" which I looked up in the DT. However, I seem to remember that there were a lot more verses than in the version shown here, also that the last verse was "If you want to find the private....".

Thanking you all in advance for any assistance you may be able to give.

Cheers

Bygsy